


Blue Angels

by Ely_Pines



Series: The Ultimate Voltron S8 AU [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura (Voltron) Angst, F/M, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Langst, M/M, Whumptober 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 09:12:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16446989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ely_Pines/pseuds/Ely_Pines
Summary: Prompt day 13: "Stay."





	Blue Angels

They were once more gathered in the Cafeteria, their own common room inside the yet to be used again hospital - except that this time, the Paladins weren’t alone.

“I think it’s better if the Blade goes after that Goraz” said Krolia.

She stood near the door, with Kolivan to her side and Keith sitting in the chair in front of them. Coran and Shiro, who also were standing on their feet, acknowledged her proposition, as well as Sam, sat on the other armchair of the room. On the middle couch, Pidge sat right next to Allura, her pale hand gripping gently her somber wrist. Hunk sat beside them and Lance was alone on the opposite couch. For once, he had kept his mouth shut all along - one would find it surprising if it wasn’t for the painful look on his face and his obvious concern about the princess.

Allura was the one that decided to move in again inside the hospital, after the “accident” at the Garrison. She didn’t talk much of what happened this day to anyone and nobody was rude enough to ask this out of her. She looked tired, with deep shadows under her eyes and despite the uniform and its long sleeves, Lance knew she was hiding bruises covering both of her arms. When he asked about the accident, he was answered that Serene, the female Altean they had discovered within the robot, had been locked up in a cell and although the conversation between her and Allura remained secret - on Allura’s order - Sam and everyone else assured him she couldn’t have touched the princess, let alone hurt her. So Lance kept the secret about the bruises but couldn’t put his eyes away from the current Blue Paladin.

Anyway, after Allura, he and Keith moved in pretty much at the same time - which lead to an awkward silence in the elevator. Then Pidge, the next day - she pretended she had realized she was closer to the Garrison that way - and finally Hunk because he didn’t want to stay alone. This happened three days ago and now, they were debating the matter of Serene. A big one, actually.

“Another Altean?” Pidge had exclaimed when her father started telling them about everything that had happened since they last discussed the subject.

“Yes” Coran answered “a very young one, comparing to me or Allura. I would say, around the same age as Romelle.”

“Did they know each other?” asked Hunk.

“Apparently not. But...”

He gazed at Sam like he was unsure.

“But she knew Lotor, too” finished Pidge’s father.

Before any Paladin could scream (the mention of Lotor’s name had that weird effect on them), he continued.

“She was part of a colony similar to the one where we found Romelle. She won’t tell its location but we’re analyzing the travels registered by her suit.”

“Yeah about that” interrupted Keith (who look even more emo than usual) “why did she attack us again?”

 He was looking at both Coran and Sam but instead, it was Allura who answered him - in a weak, weary voice:

“She thinks Coran and I betrayed the people of Altea. She was there to get revenge.”

“But how did she know where to find us?” asked Keith, beating Pidge by one second - she gave him a dark look.

“Apparently, she was sent to Earth as soon as the battle with Sendak began.”

There was a mild second of silence during which the Paladins tried to process the flood of information. They already knew Lotor was more keen on his Altean side than his Galran’s - if he ever wanted to claim that side of his origins - but Sendak always seemed to them to be pure Galra, Vrepit Sa and all of that.

“So...” said Hunk very slowly “you’re telling us she was working with Sendak?”

This didn’t make any sense.

But then, Krolia came into the discussion - Keith had wondered why she and Kolivan were invited in the first place (not that he minded, obviously).

“Actually, she was following Goraz’ orders.”

“And who is that Goraz?” asked Pidge mildly confused - Hunk was fully confused on the other hand.

Again, Krolia answered.

“I know him from when I was infiltrating the Galra Empire. He was Sendak’s lieutenant before you captured him. After that, he disappeared. My guess is that Lotor recruited him. But we can’t know for sure and we also have to deal with Serene and that other Altean colony.”

She let a few seconds passed before reaching her conclusion.

“I think it’s better if the Blade goes after that Goraz.”

The adults - Shiro, Sam and Coran - agreed with her.

“I also heard there’s a Galra outpost in one of Saturn’s moon” added Shiro “We could go there to better track Serene’s ship.”

He glanced at Pidge. Although she was currently watching over Allura, she gratefully welcomed Hunk when he lightly squeezed her shoulder.

“Saturn isn’t too far away... I guess it’ll be fine” she said before blushing.

She hated mentioning her psychological issues, let alone in front of literally everyone she knew. But she had been fine, recently. She was able to get back into the Green Lion around the same time the others started helping with the Reconstruction and she could stand flying for several hours.

“Then it’s settled” chimed in Coran. “I’ll stay on Earth with Shiro and have the ATLAS ready in case of emergency. Though I highly doubt there’s the slimmest possibility for an emergency.”

They were all ready to leave the room - at least, those who weren’t Paladins because the latter wanted to spend their afternoons together and together alone - when Keith suddenly rose his head to look directly at Shiro.

“I’ll go with the Blade.”

Shiro frowned.

“Keith, what-”

“Listen, Coran says there no risk of danger. We don’t need Voltron. In fact, if Pidge wasn’t feeling bad, she could get there on her own, with just Hunk and everything would work out fine!”

Shiro didn’t answer but his frown was still there meaning he wasn’t fully convinced. Krolia came from behind and put her hand on Keith’s shoulder. The half-breed looked up at her and she smiled fondly. Keith faced Shiro again.

“Besides, I... I want to be with my mom. Like it’s been a long time I’ve wanted-”

“I get it” said Shiro.

He wouldn’t smile but his shoulder relaxed.

And this was the moment Lance chose to jump on his feet.

“No!”

Everyone suddenly stared at him. He felt his cheek turning red and hot. The boy swallowed and tried to speak casually - he failed.

“Stay.” And because he didn’t want to sound rude: “Please.”

Keith stared at him for several seconds, looking absolutely confused.

“Lance, what the quiznak?”

Lance felt like he had gotten the world’s attention. Control your nerves, McClain, or they were gonna be the death of you.

“I’m just- You know, unlike the rest of us, you had only left the hospital for a month now so I’m a bit worried about your health, that’s all.”

The Black Paladin chuckled and rose.

“That’s nice of you Lance, but don’t worry.”

He came up and taped him on the shoulder.

“I can take care of myself.”

Lance bit the interior of his cheek to prevent the words he needed so much to say from being said. Instead he looked down at his feet and shrugged.

As that matter had also been settled, the people started exiting the room. Keith left with them to discuss the mission with his mother and Kolivan. After a few seconds, Allura also announced she was leaving because she felt tired. Lance offered to walk her to her room and she accepted.

 

***

 

They walked side by side in silence. When they arrived at Allura’s door, they both looked at each other awkwardly before Allura eventually invited him inside.

They only switched on one light - the dim one on the bedside table - and sat on the bed.

They didn’t talk, at first, but the feeling of awkwardness had vanished for they found consolation in each other’s presence - and they both knew it. Allura felt better than she was in the common room, surrendered by people trying to decipher her thoughts - while she didn’t want to herself. Lance felt better, trying to forget that embarrassing moment with Keith.

Finally, Allura opened her mouth, but Lance was faster.

“I’m worried about you, princess.”

As she was frowning, he mildly pointed to her arms.

“I saw... your bruises.”

He quickly added:

“It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it. I just... want to know if you’re going okay. And if you do want to talk about it, well, you know you can open to me, right?”

Allura had instinctively pressed her arms to her chest but now she looked at him with tenderness - and somewhat relief. A tear glowed around her eyes but she quickly wipe it away.

“Thanks, Lance. I really appreciate that.”

She fell silent for several seconds and Lance thought she wasn’t going to talk at all - which was totally fine by him - until she did:

“I did it to myself. During my sleep. What Serene told me...”

She shook her head.

“What did she tell you?” asked Lance so softly it was almost a whisper.

She turned to him and he could see the tears streaming down her face.

“She told me I betrayed Altea. That I didn’t care about my people when the war against Zarkon began. Lotor was the only one to do so and... I also let him down. The Alteans are scattered in multiple colonies, unable to communicate with each other or with the rest of the Universe. This is killing them slowly and I did nothing to help them!”

She stopped and burrowed her face into her hands. Lance could hear her muffled crying. He sat up closer to her and in the most gently possible way, wrapped his hand around her shoulders.

“Is that why you hurt yourself? Because you felt guilty?”

Allura lifted her head a little. She rolled up her sleeve. Her fingers traced the limits of her multiple bruises. Her voice was so low Lance nearly didn’t hear her.

“I don’t know. It just... happened. I wake up and discover I have bruises everywhere.”

“How are you nightmares doing?”

She clenched her fist on her laps.

“Worst than ever.”

She looked sideways at the lamp as if she was blaming it for not waking her before they happened.

“I’m dreaming about Lotor. But not like before. Before, I felt guilty because somewhere, deep inside, I still love him and I felt bad because he was the bad guy. But now, I’m starting to wonder if he wasn’t right all along and if it wasn’t me who betrayed his trust.”

Lance sighed painfully - he had been at Allura’s side since the beginning of her nightmares and they had discussed them on endless hours only because they though that if they’d found their true meaning, they would leave her alone. So he didn’t think that Allura’s current interpretation was wrong. Actually, he thought it was right which was ten times worse.

He drew her closer to him and put a light kiss on her rosy cheek. A few seconds passed before he spoke again.

“Well, I don’t buy it” he said.

Allura looked up at him, confused.

“What do you mean?” she asked him.

He shrugged - as if it was mere logic.

“What she said about you not caring about your people when the war started. Your father put you in stasis before you could even do something and I saw you mourn enough to know that you care about your people. A lot. Also, we did try to locate Romelle’s colony as soon as we could. Whatever happened, it wasn’t your fault. And whatever happened to Lotor... Nah, that guy was just pure evil and I’m not saying that because he was my rival in the fight for your love!”

His joke worked and she laughed.

“Thanks, Lance.”

“Anytime princess.”

They stayed close to each other.

“You know, on Altea, there was a word for people like you: we call them angels. It’s people that decide to watch other someone in particular through all their life.”

Lance nodded, thinking that it was a lot like a godfather or a godmother.

“You’re always there when I need you” the princess continued “and I’m feeling bad to be always in your arms to cry or mope-”

Lance immediately protested.

“That’s not it! I wanted to help you! I never-”

“-when obviously you’re sad too” she finished.

The Cuban boy shut his mouth down. Allura looked at him with a tender smile.

“So... Do you want to talk about what happened earlier with Keith?”

Lance’s face darkened. He didn’t remove his hand on Allura’s left shoulder but he rested his head on her right shoulder. The Altean princess lifted her thin fingers to brush through his hair. Lance sighed.

“I just wish he would stop ignoring me.”

He looked up and she smiled at him encouragingly.

“I know I acted like a complete idiot when we first met. But now, I’m really trying. I want to be his friend, I want him to trust me.”

“I’m sure he already trust you” said Allura but he shook his head.

“No. He trust me as his team mate, not his friend. What I want is for us to share things, like I share things with Hunk or Pidge. But he’s just so...!”

“Distant?” proposed the princess.

“Emo!”

She laughed. He joined her and felt his body relaxing a little. However, it didn’t last and soon he frowned again.

“I don’t know what to do anymore. This mission to Saturn, it was the perfect opportunity to get back together, like before. Heck! I though the weeks we had spent in the hospital had gotten us closer to each other but look at what happened! He just decided to got with the Blade instead of _us_!”

He felt tears threatening to go down.

“It’s like he wants to leave us, all over again. Are we not good enough for him?”

Allura was drawing circles on his hair. Her touch was calming.

“I don’t know. But Lance?”

“Yes?”

“You should really talk to him.”

He briefly smiled but shook his head again.

“Nah. He’ll just laugh at me like he did today. And I don’t want to relive that, thank you very much.”

Allura sighed but made no comment. Eventually, Lance spoke again.

“Besides, even if I wanted, I couldn’t go with him either, because you need your dashing-looking angel by your side, am I right princess?”

She chuckled and shoved him without malice.

“You know what? I understand Keith. You are terrible, Paladin.”

He laughed too.

“Yes. Yes I am.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I think this chapter kind of get out of hand. But I discovered that I love so much writing Allura/Lance conversations! This two sound like they could be actual BFF and I love it!


End file.
